There are many little towns and villages that dot the North Yorkshire coast around Whitby, and we chose this one--pronounced "grow-mont"--for its second-hand bookstore and railway station, part of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. I didn't know anything about it before visiting, and it turned out to be utterly delightful and charming. I felt completely transported back to the 1940s or 50s, though maybe the paint color is new. Aqua is so bright and happy and doesn't seem like much of a war-time color.
Sometime in the previous year I had read aloud The Railway Children to Ella, and I loved seeing all the labeled rooms at the station that reminded us of that world. The ladies waiting room even had a stack of old-fashioned luggage in one corner.
Not long after we arrived at the station, people began gathering for an actual steam train that runs the old lines through North Yorkshire from April to October. We didn't have a chance to take this journey, but I would sure love to one day.
It's kind of thrilling to see things I've only ever read about in books, like Pullman dining cars. I am delighted by small things.
It was also so fun watching and listening for the train, seeing the oncoming puff of black smoke in the distance.
We were on our way to the second-hand bookshop across the street, but the station shop had a nice selection as well, including these mysteries that take place across Yorkshire. Doesn't the cover of that book look familiar?
I did find a few things across the street, too.
I was at the beginning of the painful episode with my foot, so I wasn't able to walk through the rest of the village even though it's a small place. K.J. had to walk to get the car and bring it back to pick me up, we crossed this lovely bridge, and farewell Grosmont.
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